Elon Musk's Favorability Is Similar To Donald Trump's, Poll Finds
Huff PostLOADING ERROR LOADING WASHINGTON — Elon Musk, clad in tuxedo and black tie, took the stage at President-elect Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort shortly after the election with all the swagger of the winning candidate himself. Musk, whose net worth tops $400 billion, oversees six businesses while continuing to work closely with Trump: electric car manufacturer Tesla, the X social media platform, space technology company SpaceX, brain link company Neuralink, the startup xAI and tunneling operator The Boring Co. “Even though there’s a negative impact, in terms of potentially alienating some of their customers that might not be fans of Trump, the benefits far outweigh any negatives when it comes to having a right-hand seat next to Trump in the White House,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. Ives, the analyst at Wedbush Securities, said Musk’s relationship with Trump could “revolutionize the Tesla story, especially around robotics, AI and autonomous.” Investors, he said, are betting on Musk and see his political ascent as a “champagne moment.” Unlike Gerber, Ives believes that ending the EV credit and taking subsidies from Detroit carmakers, Hyundai and other companies will create only opportunity for Tesla. Still, he thinks Tesla will be the “big loser” of Musk’s businesses because of Trump’s promise to end the EV tax credit for carmakers. “Elon is misleading people to say it hurts the competition if the credit goes away.” Musk’s other companies — including his artificial intelligence company, xAI — could reap the benefits of working within the Trump administration, he said.